Scotland
Golf in Scotland For any serious player, experiencing golf in Scotland is absolutely essential. With over 550 courses within a relatively small area, it is understandable that golfers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the home of golf. Scotland's east and west coasts are littered with the spectacular links courses that are so inherently Scottish; famous names from Open Championship history such as St Andrews, Carnoustie and Turnberry offer golf breaks with a slice of history in golf's home, while Gleneagles' Perthshire landscape offers unrivalled beauty. Scotland is widely promoted as the ''''Home of Golf'''', and along with whisky and the long list of Scottish inventions and discoveries, golf is widely seen as being a key national cultural icon throughout the world. It is frequently used to market the country to potential visitors, for example for the Homecoming year in 2009, and golf tourism accounted for approximately 2% of overall Scottish tourism spending in 2004. One page that explains the history of golf in Scotland starts off by stating that, "There has been much debate as to the origins of the game and, in some cases, how it was originally played. One thing is certain — the game of golf as we know it was born in Scotland" Get In There is a wide selection of direct European flights into Scotland from most major cities on the Continent; and a growing number of direct long haul routes from further afield. Most long haul passengers will still usually enter Scotland via a connection from London Heathrow or another major European hub airport such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris. Scotland's railway system is seamlessly integrated with England, and hence forms part of the National Rail system. Scotland is connected to cities in England via the West Coast and East Coast main lines, both of which originate in London, and serve several major cities in England en route. Hence, arriving in Scotland from England by rail is not going to be much of an issue. Railcard discounts from National Rail are fully applicable here as well. The main road linking Scotland and England is the M74/A74 motorway which runs from Glasgow to the English border north of Carlisle. The A1 road links Edinburgh and the North East of England; however, this road is single carriageway in some areas and not considered the best route into Scotland. Hence the place name "Scotch Corner" on the A1 where traffic heading for most Scottish destinations turn to cross the Pennine hills on the A66 to enter Scotland via the M6 and M74. Regions * [[Angus & Dundee]] * [[Argyll]] * [[Ayrshire]] * [[Dumfries & Galloway]] * [[Edinburgh & the Lothians]] * [[Fife]] * [[Glasgow & Clyde Valley]] * [[The Scottish Highlands]] * [[Orkney]] * [[The Outer & Inner Hebrides]] * [[Perthshire]] * [[The Scottish Borders]] * [[The Shetland Islands]] * [[Stirling & The Trossachs]] Weather The climate of Scotland is temperate and tends to be very changeable, but not normally extreme. It is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, and given its northerly latitude it is warmer than areas on similar latitudes, for example Labrador in Canada. Even though most of the country has a temperate climate, the Northern islands and Highlands experience a type of weather close to the climate of the Faroe Islands or Southern Norway. Scotland occupies the cooler northern section of Great Britain, so temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK. Rainfall totals vary widely across Scotland— the western highlands of Scotland is one of the wettest places in Europe with annual rainfall up to 4,577 mm (180.2 in). Due to the mountainous topography of the western Highlands, this type of precipitation is orographic in nature, with the warm, wet air forced to rise on contact with the mountainous coast, where it consequently cools and condenses, forming clouds. In comparison, much of eastern Scotland receives less than 870 mm (34.3 in) annually; lying in the rain shadow of the western uplands. This effect is most pronounced along the coasts of Lothian, Fife, Angus and eastern Aberdeenshire, as well as around the city of Inverness. Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth receives only 550 mm (21.7 in) of precipitation each year. Also, as a result of this the north-western coast has about 265 days with rain a year and this falls to the south east to a minimum of about 170 days along the coast to the east of high ground. Snowfall is normally common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Parts of the Highlands have an average of 46 to 105 snow days per year, while some western coastal areas have between 42 and 87 with snow a year. The maximum amount of sunshine in a calendar month was 329 hours in Tiree in May 1946 and again in May 1975 while the minimum, a mere 36 minutes, was recorded at Cape Wrath in the Highlands in January 1983. Dundee is the sunniest city in Scotland. On the longest day of the year there is no complete darkness over the northern isles of Scotland. Lerwick, Shetland, has about four hours more daylight at midsummer than London, although this is reversed in midwinter. Annual average sunshine totals vary from as little as 711–1140 hours in the highlands and the north-west, up to 1471–1540 hours on the extreme eastern and south-western coasts. Average annual sunshine hours over the whole territory are 1160 (taking 1971 to 2000 as standard) meaning that the sun shines just over 25% of the time. Scotland lies in the path of eastward-moving Atlantic depressions and these bring wind and clouds regularly throughout the year. In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, wind prevails from the south-west, bringing warm, wet air from the Atlantic. The windiest areas of Scotland are in the north and west; parts of the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland have over 30 days with gales per year. Vigorous Atlantic depressions—also known as European windstorms—are a common feature in the autumn and winter in Scotland. Notable Golfers